Committee: INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION
Agenda: “SHARED FUTURE: YOUTH IN DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT”
Delegate: ADITI MISHRA
Background and Past Action
As of 2021, a staggering 1.2 billion people, or 16% of the global population, belong to the age group of 15
years to 24 years. In just 7 years, by 2030, the number of Youth is projected to increase by 7%, reaching 1.3 billion
and making up nearly a quarter of the world's population. The participation of all citizens in formal political and
governance processes is the backbone of a healthy and meaningful democracy. As the United Nations Youth
Strategy has stated, "Young people are connected like never before, they want to and already contribute to the
resilience of their communities, proposing innovative solutions, driving social progress, and inspiring political
change, in urban as well as rural contexts. Therefore, young people constitute a tremendous and essential asset
worth investing in". It's important to empower and involve the youth in democracy to create a strong foundation for
the future. We must address the challenges faced by the youth and provide opportunities for them to contribute to
the strengthening of democracy and improvement of governance.
ILO works for advancement of social and economic justice, promoting decent work environment as well
as employment by setting International labour standards. The standard includes hours of work, maternity
protection, minimum age, minimum wages, night work for young person etc. The area of improvement
listed in the Preamble of ILO includes the regulation of working time and labour supply, prevention of
unemployment and the provision of an adequate living wage, social protection of workers, children and
young person and women. Youth forms the major part of labour industry and by giving them employment
as well as saving their rights of a healthy work atmosphere will help the world building the next
generation of some use. It will help the youth to use their subconscious minds to take healthy decision for
their nation and increases their representation in decision making process also help them actively
participate in policy development and implementation through their democratic right to vote.
The Work4Youth Project was a five-year partnership between the ILO and The MasterCard Foundation
that aims to promote decent work opportunities for young men and women through knowledge and action.
It was started in 2010, and serves as the intermediary tool from which ILO colleagues can work with
constituents in the area of policy decision, also serves as an important tool for youth development
program’s intervention model for youth policy development. Global Employment Trends for Youths 2022
was the detailed report given by ILO and sets out the young labour market situation around the world. It
shows where progress has or has not been made, updates world and regional youth labour market
indicators, and gives out detailed analyses of trends and issues facing young people in the labour market.
This year edition discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people and their labour
market prospects during the recovery and beyond. ILO currently working for the youth labour market
involvement and their recovery from the global pandemic. Recently, ILO announces its new development
cooperation project which was financially supported by the Directorate for Development Cooperation and
Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg, the main goal of
the project is to enable more young women and men in Rwanda to access decent jobs in Rwanda’s digital
economy.
1. ILO 2022; ‘Global Employment Trend for Youth 2022:’
https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_853321/lang--en/index.htm
2. IPEC ‘Safe work for youth’
https://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Safeworkforyouth/lang--en/index.htm
3. International Labour Organization: https://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
YOUTH2030: ILO along with The United Nations forms the UN Strategy for Youths. This strategy is
aimed at guiding the entire United Nations (UN) system to empower young people to realize their full
potential and to stand up for their rights. It also aims to ensure youth engagement and participation in the
implementation, review and follow-up of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as other
relevant global agendas and frameworks. The third progress report of the United Nations’ system-wide
youth strategy provides insights on the status of implementation of Youth2030 across the United Nations
system. The report represents a significant milestone, marking 5 years since the launch of Youth2030.
Proposed Solutions
For the Ongoing betterment and development of the youth all around the world, We, International Labour
Organization is currently working on it through various resolutions as well as working with many
International Organization like UN, ASEAN, WTO as well as IMF for providing better employment as
well as the better understanding of their democratic rights and also help them grow through education,
finance etc. and for that ILO needs helping hands from all member as well as non-member states present
here. For this, we have proposed some solutions for improving the job prospect as well as empowering the
youth so that their participation in decision-making processes encouraged and their voices heard.
Political discourse is another area where youth participation is critical, including in multilateral
fora, so ILO would suggest of making a better use of the Agenda 2030, where the specific issues
related to youth, such as unemployment, lack of political representation and of real opportunities
to voice their concerns, are largely covered under different Sustainable Development Goals.
Civic education should also be mainstreamed and strengthened to empower youth, to support their
effective participation and help them achieve their full potential so that they can fulfil their role as
responsible citizens and future leaders. Education for peace is another essential tool for
strengthening resilience, as we must ensure that education systems contribute to peaceful and
sustainable societies especially in post-conflict environments.
ILO in cooperation with other International agencies composed of governmental as well as non-
governmental organizations creates an internship program at the international level to put into
practice their empowerment, giving youth the opportunity to work and have a voice at the
forefront of democracy and human rights.
Providing an enabling environment for youth in politics plays an essential role in generating stability,
predictability and responsible conduct in democratic societies. It may also represent a solution to the
apathy and disinterest of young people in elections and politics in general, motivated by a perception of
marginalization in the decision-making process. This is a challenge faced by all our societies. We should
do everything in our power to reverse this trend of disengagement, that poses a serious threat to the future
of our democracies, by ensuring the effective participation of youth. Therefore, we encourage all the
member states present here to take steps in this direction by opening up their political environments to the
voices of the young generation. This could be done by associating youth to the undertakings of democratic
parties, to elections-related activities or to other different types of meaningful political debate and
interaction.
4. UN Youth Envoy: ‘Youth Force: transformation, accountable growth and recovery’
https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2023/07/youth-force-transforming-accountable-growth-
and-recovery-from-covid-19/
5. ILO: ‘Youth For Work’ https://www.ilo.org/employment/areas/youth-employment/work-
for-youth/WCMS_191852/lang--en/index.htm
